The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1887-10-06
UNITED COUNTRY!

Congressman S. s. Cox, who had been re-
peatedly called for. was next introduced, and
was greeted with tumultuous applause. He
said:
Mr. Grand Sachem and Members of the Tam
many Society:
You have heard the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. Although it was Declaration of
Independence, it is, in another sense charter
of our liberties. To accomplish independence,
our fathers recited their rights and their vio-
lations BY distant government.
Among these rights thus violated was that
of representation. ! make no apology to day
for making this my theme.
This idea in crude form came out of Ger
many with its Witensgemote In better
form, but full Of ten bororghs. it became
the House of Commons, and at one era, all
too brief, the Irish Parliament. Even the
Tories, who now oppose the revival of the
Parliament on College Green, in Dublin,
framed legislature for Bulgaria. Il was
written in Lord Salisbury's room in Con-
stantinople (Which is familiar 10 me as my
own for two years., when Disraeli was Pre-
mier and Sir Drummond Wolf, the co-adjuter
of Salisbury, in settling the Oriental i'm
broglio. But these efforts were fragmentary
ones, and are not fully based ON numbers,
which are the only true foundation OF liberty
and free deliberation.
Its importance was felt by those who in
spired and achieved our independence and
organized our Constitution. Our extraordi-
nary advances as people since, are due to
the representative system. That system, both
federal and State, strikes no name, however
humble, from its roster.
Until our civil war had abolished slavery,
the old rule Of representation had a special
reference to the African slaves. 1t was one
of the compromises Of the Constitution. The
North said: "These negroes are property, and
should not be enumerated in the representa-
tion, unless you count cattle and horses, land
and other property" The South said: "No;
such negroes are persons, and should be count
ed equally with all other persons, whether
voters or not, whether minors, insane, Or
women" The compromise carved the colored
man into five parts-two parts property and
three parts person. Thus there crept into
the text of the Constitution the once famous
"three, 6fths representation of the slaves.
POPULAR BASIS OF REPRESENTATION.
BY the terms of the Federal Constitution
all are counted in the basis of representation
for the House of Representatives, except
"Indians not taxed" The red man was
crystall;zsd in the clause to illustrate the
correlation between representation and taxa
tion. But the general principle remains that
then We were, and perhaps now are, the only
nation which has this broad, popular basis,
80 that every man, woman aud child, of both
sexes and all colors, are counted to make up
the whole number upon which our represen-
tative institutions are founded. Taking this
number, say sixty millions and mere, fix
the number of Congressman as it is low, at
S25; divide the population by the number of
Congressman, and the quotient is the basis
for each Congressional district. If there is
residuary fraction, as there must be, the bill
/ introduced, and which is the law, happily
reconciled an old and vexed controversy. As
it is impossible that there should be an exact
equal division, the law saws that the loss in
the number OF members caused by the frac-
tions in the several States in the division
should be compensated for. How? By as
signing to so many States having the largest
fractions an additional member each for its
fraction, SO as to make up the whole number
of Representatives agreed upon.
l think this plan is So equitable that it will
never be repealed. II used to be that States
claimed and sometimes got member for
moiety of the quota, or even less, on pros
pect of growth during the ensuing decade.
These were temporary make-shifts But 1
maintained successfully that my plan, though
once vetoed by President Washington, had
in it an element of equality and would re-
main; for it is the highest refinement of
government known among men, to have
every interest, the least as well as the
greatest, represented in the government. No
other country has reached so near the per-
fection of Democratic Republic in conserv-
ing the rights and interests of al. (Cheers.)
Now, shall from these premises, demon
strate how insolently and defantly the Re-
publican party dishonors its name by defraud-
ing the people of representation.
NEW BASIS.
When the amendment ahnlishino slavery